Help, I’ve Got Knife Hands And A Chewbacca Mask

What makes a video rocket from a private chuckle to a global in-joke? We dive into the messy, magnetic world of viral clips—from the scrappy days of email chains to the precision-tuned feeds of YouTube, Vine, TikTok, Reels, and Shorts—and map the real levers that turn a moment into a movement. Along the way, we revisit internet classics like Charlie Bit My Finger, Evolution of Dance, Harlem Shake, and Chewbacca Mom, and unpack why a perfect fail, a catchy hook, or a simple dance catches fire while thousands of polished uploads sink without a trace.

We break the formula down to its human core: awe, humour, shock, and inspiration that land in seconds, plus clean formats that are easy to copy and twist. Expect a tour through platform history and design—how YouTube’s 2005 pivot changed discovery forever, how Vine taught an entire generation timing, and how today’s vertical loops, captions, and hooks feed the dopamine cycle. We explore the psychology behind the scroll: novelty spikes, mirror neurons, FOMO, and the “benign violation” sweet spot that makes a safe stumble irresistible. There’s room for the heartfelt too, from cause-led virality like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to the parasocial bonds that turn creators into companions.

Nostalgia threads it all together. We swap memories of first shares on MSN, debate why Gangnam Style broke the counter, and celebrate the gloriously odd corners of YouTube—ASMR whisper-worlds, auto-tuned news, parodies, and the cult clips you still quote under your breath. By the end, we answer the big question with a wink: viral videos both mirror the culture we live in and nudge it into new shapes, one share at a time.

If you laughed, learned, or remembered a classic, tap follow, share this with a friend who needs a throwback, and leave us a quick review—what’s the one viral clip you’ll never stop quoting?

Transcript

Setting The Scene And Banter

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hello and welcome to Bonus Dad.

SPEAKER_03 0:02

Bonus Daughter, a special father-daughter podcast with me, Hannah.

SPEAKER_02 0:05

And me, Davy, where we discuss our differences, similarities, share a few laughs and stories. Within our ever-changing and complex world.

SPEAKER_03 0:13

Each week we will discuss a topic from our own point of view and influences throughout the decades. Or you could choose one by contacting us via email, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. Links in bio. Welcome to a very special podcast episode by Bonus Dad, Bonus Daughter. We are here to talk about viral videos. We're hoping this video goes viral.

SPEAKER_02 0:33

Well, it might do, you never know.

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Never know.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

You never know.

SPEAKER_03 0:36

And we need to do something wacky though, I feel like. Viral, viral videos seem to have a wacky thing.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Yeah. Hook. Yeah. We only wrote this, or I only wrote this episode the other day as well. This is fresh off the press. This is uh really fresh because where did the idea come from?

SPEAKER_03 0:50

Me.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

It came from you. You had an idea of of a of a podcast episode.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Have you included knife hands in here?

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Uh I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 0:59

Did you watch it?

SPEAKER_02 0:59

No, I didn't watch it, no. No.

SPEAKER_03 1:02

You didn't do your homework. You did the homework. I did the homework. You're extra particular.

SPEAKER_02 1:07

See, the thing is, because you never read the scripts, do you? So you have no idea. So I've written this, so I thought, because I've got 20 viral videos that we're gonna go over. Twenty? Twenty. And Vine will be. You can always add a few more in if you do remember them.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna chuck them in. You are? Okay. Yeah. Okay. They'll come to me. Okay. I know a lot. I was uh a massive lover of Vine back in the day.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Oh, I love Vine.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Vine is so good.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Um what happened to Vine? Vine, I think, got bought out by Twitter formerly now.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

X.

SPEAKER_03 1:36

Well, no.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Oh, formerly Twitter. Formerly Twitter, now X. No X. No X.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Um let that sink in. Um God, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

What a knob. I mean, honestly, when he walked in and had that sink in the thing, I just thought, what an absolute dick.

SPEAKER_03 1:54

Yeah. I mean, I've got a few choice words about our uh our our esteemed billionaire, uh Elon Musk, but um I think I'm gonna leave that for another episode, perhaps.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Yeah, I think the term dick.

SPEAKER_03 2:04

Let's leave that one. We've got some wars going on in the world. I don't want to cause another. No, no, that's not the rivalry of bonus dad, bonus daughter versus Elon Musk. I wonder who would win. As we have no money, no resource. He could literally, he could, he could squash us like a bug. Yeah, he could. He would he could make sure that we never podcast again. We love you, Elon Musk.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Such a child. Oh, brilliant. So, um we we actually discussed before we start.

Choosing The Topic: Going Viral

SPEAKER_03 2:35

By the way, I hope I never get like quoted out of that. You know, when like the media takes like something out of uh context, like uh I think Coolsville sucks. Exactly. Like in in uh Skippy-doo. Skippy-doo. Yeah. I don't I don't want I don't want to be associated with that sentence. Like I cannot believe I just said that. Please, please do not take that out of context.

SPEAKER_02 2:55

Um could turn it into a viral video, just that, you saying that.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

Yeah. To a to a funky beat.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

To a funky beat.

SPEAKER_03 3:04

To a funky beat.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Oh, so um we did discuss before we started the episode, we'd have a live update. We both looked at each other and went, actually.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

No, I mean I had a haircut, but I feel like they can just see that. Well well, our audio listeners, hi, I had a haircut, I've now have a fringe. Um if you want to see my fringe, it will be on our socials because I will put us in a in a fringe. In a fringe, in a post. So you will see it if you follow us on socials. Maybe you should just follow us on socials just to see my fringe.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Well, we don't really post on socials that often, really, do we?

SPEAKER_03 3:38

I mean, we post every week technically on our social media.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

Well, we do, we put our stories up every week.

SPEAKER_03 3:42

So they're there.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Do you ever immortalised? Do you ever look to see um how many people have actually seen it?

SPEAKER_03 3:47

No.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Do you not? No. I do. It's quite sad. I'd put my story up and then I'll have little looks and then see how many people actually watch the stories. Quite a few, actually. Really? Yeah. Quite a few.

SPEAKER_03 3:57

We've actually probably more on your own story than on BDBD. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We need more followers, guys. We do.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

We do need more followers. Um, in fact, I had a little look at BuzzBright the other day, and we've had we've had quite a few listens in the past few days. BuzzBright. We were like there was one day we had over 150. Well, I say over, we had 115 listens.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

What, just on one day?

SPEAKER_02 4:17

Just on one day. Just on one day.

SPEAKER_03 4:22

Oh yeah. All over the world as well. We we are growing. Slowly, but we're growing.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

Yeah, slowly. But you know, going viral.

Vine, Platforms, And Algorithms

SPEAKER_03 4:28

Going viral. Going viral segment. Nice to bring it back. I like that. Would you like to take over the first segment as someone that wrote and has read the script?

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Indeed. So what makes a well, basically the first segment is the rise of viral videos and how the internet turned to share or learn to share. So the term, don't know if you know this, the term viral video actually exploded in the mid-2000s alongside the rise of broadband and social media.

SPEAKER_03 4:55

Yeah, makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Yeah, that makes sense. Early sharing happened via email chains and blogs before social platforms streamlined distribution. And can you remember the Rick rolling?

SPEAKER_03 5:05

Yes, I remember the Rick rolling. Um I mean, emails have chain emails have been around for as long as I can remember. Send this to ten people or you will fall out of money or something. Like a fortune cookie, but electronic fortune cookie.

SPEAKER_02 5:21

I read the other day and I can't remember who it was. It was, I think it was a comedian. It was Tiny Tim. You know the comedian Tiny Tim who rings up with the Charles. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And he said he put a post up the other day and said that his son Hello had said, Oh, can you show me how to send an old style letter? And he thought his son meant writing a letter.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

But he didn't, he meant email.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Which is crazy because that that child is gonna use email in his job.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

I mean, we use email still in our jobs. Now, yeah. That's not really ever been replaced. I mean, we've got teams and we've got instant messaging, but that's more internal. What do you use as an internal?

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Uh we use teams. We use teams. We use teams, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

Surprisingly, I thought you'd use something like Slack, but um, but yeah, um, yeah, we use Teams too. I guess because it's Microsoft.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Yes. Yeah, because we use um we we use uh three uh copilot as well. Uh-huh. There's a lot of copilot. We don't use ChatGPT. ChatGPT. Right, because Copilot's much more uh what's the word secure. Secure. Secure. Secure it's quite scary though, because it we I I put stuff into Copilot and it came back the other day and said, Oh, based on things you've said before or asked before, I think this. And I was like, what? So you're actually remembering what I've written?

SPEAKER_03 6:33

Yeah, ChatGPT has the same features. Does it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Oh okay. Yeah. Um, so anyway, the launch of YouTube in 2005 transformed video from a niche hobby into a global culture engine.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

And created a lot of jobs for people.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

It did indeed. It was founded by three guys by the name of Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Mr. Kareem. I don't know how to pronounce his first name. Jaward? Jawoard. Is the pronounced the J or is it Howard? It might be Howard. Howard, yeah, Kareem. Um sorry, Howard. If you're listening, I do apologise for the mispronouncing of your name. Uh and in 2006, Google bought YouTube for 1.65 billion dollars. US dollars.

SPEAKER_03 7:20

Was it worth more than that?

SPEAKER_02 7:21

Well, you think about what it's worth now.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

And it has over 2.5 billion monthly logged in users worldwide.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

I am one of them. We are one of them. We are one of them. We have our own channel. I mean, Chad Steve, Mr. Kareem, you that was a good move on your parts. Not to sell it as such, but just to create the platform.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

Yeah. I mean, I'll put it on. I bet they're laughing. Of course so. Well, no, they I think they've they've sold it, haven't they? It's Google, right? That's what I mean.

SPEAKER_03 7:53

But 1.65 billion between the three of them, that's a tasty sum.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

Yeah. That's a tasty sum. I miss MySpace.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

Why do you miss MySpace?

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Because I just like MySpace as a concept. It was good. It was good. Um, but did you know that over 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

Minute?

SPEAKER_02 8:15

Every minute. Five hundred hours worth of video.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

I mean, we're also one of them. We are. We're one of them uploaders. But when you think check us out on YouTube, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

But when you think a lot of videos are only like two, three minutes long. And you get a lot of the shorts now as well, don't you?

SPEAKER_03 8:29

Shorts, I mean hours are 45 minutes long. So there's I guess there's There's a real mixture.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

There is a real mixture. And you can also get um because that you can now watch TV shows and that on YouTube as well, can't you? Because I know some of the ones are on there. Yeah, because I know some people that only stream things through YouTube and don't watch normal telly.

YouTube’s Rise And Scale

SPEAKER_03 8:44

Yeah. Did you know you need a TV license in order to watch YouTube live? No. Fun fact. No, I didn't know. TV license in the UK, I think, is an absolute sham.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

Well it is.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

Sham.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

It is indeed.

SPEAKER_03 8:58

Shambles.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Yes. Uh and the first viral videos predicted algorithmic feeds. And sharing was driven by email, forums, and word of mouth. Or predated algor algorithms.

SPEAKER_03 9:11

Yeah, before I guess the rise of social media, YouTube was kind of before that massive boom.

SPEAKER_02 9:16

Yeah, so algorithms weren't haven't always been a thing. So it was all done through word of mouth, which is why when you think that when something goes viral, when it originally went viral, it was because people were looking for have you seen so-and-so?

SPEAKER_03 9:29

Have you seen so-and-so? Yeah. Exactly. That was the word on the like I remember sending YouTube videos to people on uh MSN Messenger. That's how that that was when I kind of first started consuming YouTube. I guess that's the best way. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

Yeah. And then of course the social sharing buttons, such as Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, um, basically accelerated that in the like dislike buttons. Indeed. And of course the introduction of smartphones, because everyone watches videos on smartphones now rather than on computers.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Is is YouTube the only platform that has a dislike button? No, I think other ones do. Because Facebook doesn't, Instagram doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Does it not? So no, I think probably probably it probably is then.

SPEAKER_03 10:14

So it's it it's it's quite crazy to me that they have that as a function, to be honest.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Yeah. Oh there you go.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

Sorry, mics, sorry, mics.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Uh and then of course, yeah, then the short form vertical videos such as TikTok, Instagram reels, and of course the YouTube shorts and accelerator even more.

SPEAKER_04 10:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

And apparently a viral video can reach tens of millions within 24 to 72 hours.

SPEAKER_03 10:37

Yeah, that's because how we're globally connected now.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

But then of course you get bots as well now, don't you? That actually just watch to try and put the viral things up. Which I was saying the other day about the Spotify music and that they were using bots to what does make a video go viral, Hannah?

SPEAKER_00 10:56

What does humour humor and that's it?

SPEAKER_03 11:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Just humour.

SPEAKER_03 11:03

It's gotta be funny. It's gotta be funny. It's gotta be funny. I think it's very rare that a viral video goes viral for not being positive.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

Well, there are a number of things is awe, humour, anger, shock, or inspiration.

SPEAKER_03 11:16

I was gonna say shock might be another one. Yeah, shock like well, I can't think of an actual shocking video right now.

SPEAKER_02 11:21

Yeah. Um relatability when people go, oh, that's so me.

SPEAKER_03 11:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

That's so me. I can really identify with that.

SPEAKER_03 11:28

I think videos that are easy to replicate as well. Like people will I know there's we're we're gonna talk about a few videos, but there are some times that people will replicate a trend as well.

SPEAKER_02 11:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:38

Um, I'm not looking at a script.

SPEAKER_02 11:40

You're not uh okay. Uh rely uh you said reliability, surprise or unexpected twist.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Yeah.

What Makes Videos Go Viral

SPEAKER_03 11:48

I love I love that. Um I don't think it would be mentioned because it's quite niche, but there's that video where it's it's it's some sort of like coffee uh additive advert. I think it's like like coffee mate, like a like a like a milk derivative or something. I think it's an American company, but someone took it and it made out that the it's like uh a girl and her brother are like he's in the war or something and she's waiting for him to come home, like in a sort of brotherly sister leave relationship, and then at the end the twist is that they kiss, and it's like, oh, uh that was a like a bit of a shock because incest obviously. And it always makes me laugh every time I see that video. I'm like, because you don't really expect the twist coming, you don't expect it, she's like waiting for a brother to come home, and you're like, Oh, and then the mum and dad are there, and she's like, Oh, the sister's really depressed, and then they just end up kissing, it's just the craziest thing. It's just that's a shock, that's a shocking one. Yeah, surprisal, unexpected twist.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

Yeah, uh well, um, shareability makes the viewer look, yeah, that again that looking funny, smart, or it being in the know. Yes, yeah, and of course, simplicity, easy to understand in seconds.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

Yeah, yeah. Um I understand the context, it's funny.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Yeah, strong thumbnail, something that grabs your attention. Yeah, I've noticed on some videos, well, I watched what sounds really sounds really awful now, but I was watching a video the other day of people hurting themselves, basically falling over. Fails, and yeah, basically fails, and it was um people who were sort of walking outside of their house and it was icy and they were like buggering down the porch, and it and the top thing it said, it said, Oh, wait for the woman in the golf car, and you know damn well that's gonna be the last one. It just wants you to watch all of the videos. Clickbait, yeah. So there's that side of it as well. Um, short run time, and that's something that we've found that people don't have the attention span. No, because people doom scroll now, don't they? 30 seconds, yeah. If they'd not if they've not caught your attention in those 30 seconds, you can forget it. Bah you can forget it. Um repetition. Yeah, yeah. And uh timing, so things like cultural relevance, trends, or news hooks.

SPEAKER_03 13:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Is another one. Yeah, another one. So, what is the psychol psychology behind viral videos? Why do we enjoy them? Pose that question to you, Hannah.

SPEAKER_03 14:07

Um It's on the script. I I'm not gonna look at the script. This is this is I add lib. This is my job to add lib. I think for me I've written it. I feel like the viral videos, they've for me, they've got to be funny.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

But funny in a tasteful kind of way. I'm not sometimes some of them are a bit shocking, and you think, mmm, are you going over the line of funny? But yeah, I think for me it has to be something either very clever or very funny, or both.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

I'll tell you which videos are some of my favourite is Aussie Man. Yeah, Ozzie Man reviews and destinations.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

Because it is so it's it's quite niche what he does because he just commentates over just random shit. Yeah, like it could be literally the weather lady or it could be a Marvel race. Like there is no in between. Like he is very, very good.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

He is hilarious. And have you heard Bush Barbie as well? No, so I think it's something about the Australian accent that does make things really funny.

SPEAKER_03 15:04

You like, yeah, yeah. You like Australian accents.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

Yeah, that's really funny.

SPEAKER_03 15:08

The one that I think about a lot, which is such an odd uh it is YouTube based. Um, he I think he's called Dank Memes now. Okay, but essentially, he was so interesting to me because uh some of his videos have gone viral, but it's like it's videos talking about the evolution of the iPad and iPhone.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:29

What are you?

SPEAKER_02 15:30

I'm laughing because Ed has just messaged, right? And I'll pull the sent you a viral video. No, he's he's just he's just messaged and he has put morning, young man. So the sweet shop over the road from school was called Simpsons.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

That's an uh that's a reference to our last episode on sweets.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

I told you it'd be a name though. I said I said it was like either like Gary's sweet shop. So Simpsons is not like that far off what I was thinking of.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

So there you go. So it was called Simpsons. He said uh I'll read the message. Um so the sweet shop over the road was from school was Simpsons. That was a proper sweet shop where it would be packed at lunchtime. School allowed us over without a pass. Then you went down towards the marketplace from school just opposite St. George's entrance, was Wilson's news agents.

SPEAKER_04 16:17

Wilson!

SPEAKER_02 16:17

Wilson's and they would be the ones to sell us cigarettes. Uh yeah, brilliant. That was a before school stop, round the corner just past the church, was the nine o'clock shop news agent. Sometimes would sell us cigarettes. Then there was a corner type shop down near your house somewhere, I think it was on St. Giles, another one that would sell us cigarettes. We would go there before the rugby club and get something viral to throw up later.

SPEAKER_03 16:45

I'm noticing a theme.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Yeah, brilliant.

Psychology Behind Sharing

SPEAKER_03 16:48

Lovely. So there you go. Thank Zed. Yeah. I enjoyed that segue. Sorry, going back to viral viral videos. I really enjoyed this uh dank memes, which was um I think it's dank memes. Basically, the guy reviews old iPods and looks at old iPods and things, and I think for me that that's the that's where that nostalgia came in. These videos could be like 45 minutes long, but he just basically gets them in front of front of him and and and I don't know, he he tries to break them. And then there was this whole thing about Craig's, which were like uh an old MP4 that used to be around at the same time, and it was like, oh, it's a Craig, and people would then then he become so popular that people were sending him things to review. They were like like their old iPod, or it would be like an old MP4 player that's like literally like the craziest bit of technology you've ever seen. I don't know why anyone would make it. And yeah, and I remember watching his videos on YouTube just for hours and hours. I just used to enjoy hearing his voice and just uh he had a snake called Frank who appeared in the videos sometimes. Like it was just it was just he's just so I think I think a pe a lot of what YouTube gave a lot of people and made them so popular was the introverts got a voice. I think because you're behind a camera and because you have basically um an ungated audience, right? That a lot of people that were introverted could just come out and and and talk about their niche subjects without the judgment. Because nine out of ten times someone like me was loving that niche subject of of him pulling apart these bloody MP4 players, and and it's it's I think it is it is you're right, it's that it's the nostalgia, but it's also that camaraderie, like we're all interested in the same thing. Jenna Marbles is another one.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Oh, I forgot about Jenna Marbles, Jenna Marbles. I used to like her.

SPEAKER_03 18:36

Yeah, Jenna Marbles, you know, uh is another another YouTuber that was that was really, really popular um back in the day. I'm not sure if she even makes videos at this point. I don't know. I don't know. But there's loads of people that just do really niche shit. Like um, I watch I watch a lady called Mia Maples, um, which is uh kind of sounds a bit like Jenna Marbles, but she's a she's a Canadian lady. Uh I found her originally because she was reviewing like clothing lines from like Team U and stuff like that and seeing if she could get a really good deal, but then she kind of went into a bit of craft and sewing, and then she also went into um uh weirdly enough, she bought her house at the same time we did, and I was watching her renovate her house. Yeah, and like it was it was it's just it she just seems to be always in the same life space as me, like with a similar age, so her videos kind of grew with me. What I was interested in and her interest just collided. We we would be friends if if there wasn't an internet blocking or or miles of of sea, you know, if we we were ever in a in a situation where we could be social. And I think that is, it's it's just that kind of that those niche subjects suddenly got a voice on YouTube, and that I think that can make a lot of videos viral too, within their own niche circles. I mean it doesn't mean viral globally, it could mean viral within that sector. ASMR, gosh, yeah, that just happened. ASMR Darling is probably one of the highest rating ASMR people out there. Um, those videos just went craze, massive craze. As the f uh oh, please tell me you've mentioned ASMR.

SPEAKER_02 20:06

I haven't mentioned them, but Prime Me Modulary.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

Yeah, it's Tomskur is another YouTuber that I watched to death. I can dream hound! Just trying to think of other YouTubers that I could say, and people would be like, oh yeah, I remember them. Yeah, Tomskur is definitely up there. Yeah, I don't know how many. I probably that was probably my most watched videos on YouTube. I've watched the cup song over and over again.

SPEAKER_02 20:29

You did that, you used to perform that as well, didn't you?

SPEAKER_03 20:32

Yeah, yeah. Probably still could if I can let go.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Anna Kendrick did that, didn't she?

SPEAKER_03 20:36

Yeah, so Anna Kendrick was on Pitch Perfect, and then it kind of blew up from there. Again, another thing that was just from a film that then people could replicate. It was like easy to replicate or easy enough to replicate. Yeah, mad. Who else did I use to there's there's a guy that I can't remember his name, but every time he did a video, he would put a sticker on the bottom which was quality, so he felt that he he gave himself a sticker to say if the video was good or not, in his opinion.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

Alright.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Uh, Digital Dan is another one I follow. Um, he does a lot of roller coaster stuff.

SPEAKER_02 21:07

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:08

He makes roller coasters online and he also goes to roller coaster parks. So again, my niche interest. Oh god, I'm just trying to think of other YouTubers. Uh my mind's gone completely. Oh uh Slow-mo Guys.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

Slow-mo guys, yeah. Slowmo guys. Yeah, I like the Slowmo Guys.

SPEAKER_03 21:22

Slowmo Guys, Gavin and Dan.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

Oh, I'm trying to think of those two guys as well. The oh there's a couple they'll come to me in a little while. Okay. Come to me in a little while.

SPEAKER_03 21:32

We can move on now. We can move on.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

So, yeah, the psychology behind viral videos is you do get a that dopamine spike from novelty and unpredictability.

SPEAKER_03 21:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Yeah. Um, and they kind of mirror neurons act that activate during emotional or physical responses.

SPEAKER_03 21:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Yeah. And you've got that social currency as well, that sharing signals, identity and belonging.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

Yep. And you have the old FOMO. Fear of missing out. And the That kind of collective experience between people as well.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

I think that's what I mean when when introverts got a voice, because it was that I'm really into roller coasters. Carl, let's f let's frickin' fly with that. Like you know, it it is that, oh, we all like the same thing. Let's go. Yeah.

Nostalgia And YouTube Creators

SPEAKER_02 22:15

And then you get the the tribal reinforcement where that's those videos kind of validate certain beliefs and also group group identity. That's exactly what you were just saying.

SPEAKER_03 22:24

Mr. Beast as well.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Yeah. And you got that emotional contagion, there's feelings that get spread through networks.

SPEAKER_03 22:30

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Yep. And then of course there's the benign violation theory.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

Go on.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

It explains why unexpected but safe situations are funny. Okay. So it's unexpected. Again, like the falling ones.

SPEAKER_03 22:44

Have you seen that guy who hangs from like his gym ceiling?

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry.

SPEAKER_03 22:51

And like he'll do uh one string of pasta and it goes and it clicks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then he does five strings of pasta. And then it you just want to see how many blades of pasta it takes so that it holds his weight and he's like, a thousand and fifty plaster. I don't know. And then he just falls from the ceiling. But you know that he's safe because he's always going to fall on the mat and he comes up again to do the next pasta break.

SPEAKER_02 23:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

Um we're going to be doing an episode on comedy at some point. Are we? And I will explain more about the benign violation theory within comedy. Okay. Why we laugh at certain things, and that theory comes into that as well.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

Yeah, like we laugh when someone falls over. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

And it's that, you know, it's like what what you would deem to be offensive, but you're you're in like in a safe environment so that you can laugh, and even you know you shouldn't be, but you are because it's safe.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

I'm more likely to laugh at someone falling over at home on a video than I am in person. Because in person, I'm like, oh no, they might have hurt themselves.

SPEAKER_04 23:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:44

But I feel like if someone falls over on a video, there is some sort of permission somewhere where they've said, yeah, this is fine to share online.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

Yeah. But then you've got that parasocial connection as well. It's like where you're bonding with that person on screen because again, identity you can identify with something. Yeah. I mean, otherwise, I'll keep going back to that video the other day of those people falling over, and there was just there was one, and this guy walked, and he basically it was like he felt it just everything just went wrong. As he got up to the top of the stairs, he slipped and he had like coffee and food in his hand. And as he went down, and then the food went, and then this went, and then he went flying into the hedge as well. It was just like Yeah, a series of unfortunate events. Exactly, and it just got worse and worse and worse.

SPEAKER_03 24:27

I think when you try to save yourself from falling, it ends up sometimes worse. Like the thing that you could be grabbing onto could be someone's very loose trousers, and then you just like show their pants off to the world or something like that. Like, there are so many things that can happen when you're trying to save yourself.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

It's just like he was covered in food and coffee, and but he was just sitting there and he was laughing his ass off.

SPEAKER_03 24:48

I think when they find it funny as well, it's even funnier for me. Like if they're too serious about it, nah, it's not as it's not as funny for me.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Yeah, it was the fact that he was just laughing.

SPEAKER_03 24:57

I recently watched um I'm I'm really I follow a lot of ice skating, so therefore I follow a lot of ice skating fails. And there was this chap, bless him, like he'd taken his girlfriend on the ring, and she was clearly a fairly able skater. I'm not saying she was like Olympic level, but she was a she was skating around and she was like and he was like stuck in the middle, and he was just like, you know, that pinwheeling, like completely like like his legs were just like he was just trying to save himself. I was thinking, mate, if you just fall and then get back up, you will be fine.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

When you don't do you, you try and save yourself. Just try and save yourself, yeah, and it just makes it worse.

SPEAKER_03 25:29

And it's arms were going like this, and she was just pissing herself laughing. I think that's what was even funnier that she was up, he was laughing too, but she was absolutely pissing herself. It was so funny. Yeah. People's laughter is quite infectious, I think, in videos.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:44

When something happens, then they're all laughing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

Including the person that it's happened to, but genuine laughter, not genuine, yeah, not like canned laughter. No, no, no, no, but genuine when people's not humiliation either.

SPEAKER_03 25:56

It's it's we collectively think that is so funny.

SPEAKER_02 25:59

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And it's something when we had the episode on embarrassing moments, and sometimes it is, you know, it's you just gotta laugh it out.

SPEAKER_03 26:07

You have, you really have.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

You have just gotta laugh it.

SPEAKER_03 26:09

I'm a really clumsy person, I just laugh at every stupid thing I do. I'm one big embarrassment.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

So, shall we go over some videos? Yeah, yeah. See if you can remember them.

SPEAKER_03 26:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

So the first one, so I have put some screenshots on here as well for some of them.

SPEAKER_03 26:24

Just to remind me.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

Just to remind me.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

I didn't need it for this one.

SPEAKER_02 26:27

No, though. So the first one was two thousand the first one that I thought of was 2007. Yeah. Charlie bit my finger. Can you remember that video? Ouch, Charlie. Yeah, I saw a video the other day.

SPEAKER_03 26:38

Charlie.

SPEAKER_02 26:40

I saw a video the other day where it's them two recreating it.

SPEAKER_03 26:43

Yes, I saw that recently as well. That's making the rounds as another viral video, nostalgia.

SPEAKER_02 26:48

Exactly, exactly. Yeah. Yes. So you can remember Charlie bit my finger.

Iconic Early Viral Hits

SPEAKER_03 26:52

Yeah, if you don't know that video, I'm very surprised. Very, very surprised. Oh seven. I was 12. Sorry. Naff deluded me there. It's because I in the 2000s I have to plus four to everything, but for some reason that that that sum can be quite tricky for me.

SPEAKER_02 27:13

Brilliant. 12, yeah. Evolution of dance. Do you remember that one? Do you not remember that video?

SPEAKER_03 27:20

No. It was a oh actually, I uh I'm looking at screenshots and I feel like I do remember that.

SPEAKER_02 27:25

Do you remember this one? And this was the guy, this Judson Lapelle, I can't remember his name. He basically did like this evolution of dance video of him dancing in different things, and it was funny.

SPEAKER_03 27:34

I I love the lady. Um, speaking of dance, I don't think it'll be on here. Again, quite niche. The lady is like, I'm a freestyle dance teacher, and she's like I love that video every time I see it. I send it to Mitchell. We must have seen that video like a thousand times.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

So, interestingly enough, the Evolution of Dance was the first video to surpass 100 million views. Oh, damn.

SPEAKER_03 28:02

Oh, go him.

SPEAKER_02 28:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:03

I love that. That's that's a great stat.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

Yeah, there is there's um there is one video that well we'll talk about later where it actually surpassed a billion views. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:12

I think I know which one that one is.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

We all know which one. And I to be honest, I'm probably half of them. I love that. I love that song. I love that song. It's brilliant. But before we go on. But before we go on, David After Dentist. Have you seen that one?

SPEAKER_03 28:25

I recognise the screenshot.

SPEAKER_02 28:26

You recognise the screenshot.

SPEAKER_03 28:27

Yeah, I can't remember exactly what he says.

SPEAKER_02 28:29

Yeah. But he's high on the the quote from it is that is this real life? Because he was so high after the uh anesthesia that he had.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:40

They are funny, those videos.

SPEAKER_03 28:41

Oh, anyone. I what do they do in America that like this?

SPEAKER_02 28:44

I don't know because I want some of that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 28:46

Because I don't think I was when I remember, I mean you remember this as well. When I had my teeth out and the dentist, I was miserable.

SPEAKER_04 28:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:55

And I remember pulling my lip instead of the um instead of the wadding that was in my mouth. But um, God, I was yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:03

I mean, have you seen the video where the the girl is laying in there and the her boyfriend comes over to speak to her? Yeah. And he kisses her.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

Yeah, and she goes, That cute boy just kissed me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:15

I like you. You're cute. That's such a cute video. She likes falls in love with him again, which is cute. Yeah, it's so sweet.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

And the next one is the first video to surpass one billion views.

SPEAKER_03 29:29

2012 when Cy graced Whoppa Gangnam Styles. Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whopping gangnam style. Sexy later.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Whoop, woop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop bop, gangnam style.

SPEAKER_03 29:43

I wonder why. There is so much cool K pop out there. Why Cy?

SPEAKER_02 29:48

I think he Do you know what? I saw an interview with him once and he just said, like, I'm just a dad who got lucky with music. Yeah, he's such a laugh. He is brilliant. I mean, have you seen that video where he's on stage and they he shoots out of the things? That's phenomenal. I mean, what a way to what a way to come out on stage. Awesome. He's just a funny bloke.

SPEAKER_03 30:10

Maybe, maybe that is. It's his own comed like comedicness.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

It actually, it actually broke YouTube's view counter.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

Oh, yeah, because it wouldn't go past one. It wouldn't go past one belt. Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Yeah, yeah. Uh the next one, uh, when I looked up was one called Coney 2012. I don't think I've seen this video.

SPEAKER_03 30:31

I I do recognise it. Is it the dance troupe? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:35

Yeah, it said it was it was produced by a group called Invisible Children and it demonstrated activism-driven virality.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

I do, I do it it rings a bell.

SPEAKER_02 30:45

Yeah, I don't think I've seen it. I don't think I've seen it.

SPEAKER_03 30:48

But I think it rings a bell for it it's not supposed to be funny. I think it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

No, no, no, no. I think it's funny. It's more of a hard-hitting Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 30:55

About a real subject that should be absolutely brought to attention. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Now the next video is one video I have seen many times in many different forms. In many different forms, and they're all brilliant. And it is the Harlem shake.

SPEAKER_03 31:09

Do the Harlem. Do the Harlem. Um, the best Harlem shake that I've seen is the supernatural cast.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:18

Brilliant. With Dean just like And that that still of Dean like dancing is then taken out of context a lot. Um, and it and yeah, just how they all get in and involved. And I think it was just the funny things that people were willing to do.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:33

Doing that thing, it was just like because you've the the video starts with just one person and everyone's like acting normal or still or whatever, and then it just goes it just goes into absolute chaos. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:43

It's brilliant. Um Harlem.

SPEAKER_03 31:46

That was 2013.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

2013, that was.

SPEAKER_03 31:53

I was 17 years old.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

Did you work that out?

SPEAKER_03 31:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

Yeah. I worked that out without there was the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. We did this. We did do this, we did do this. I was bloody freezing.

SPEAKER_03 32:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

And that was.

SPEAKER_03 32:08

We did it in the middle of Nanus Field.

SPEAKER_02 32:10

We did indeed.

SPEAKER_03 32:12

And it was cold and the light was going.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:15

And it was cold.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

It was very cold. Yes, I remember because I didn't have a shirt on and I was fuzzed.

SPEAKER_03 32:20

Speaking of ALS, did you hear that the gentleman from Grey's Anatomy recently died of that?

SPEAKER_02 32:28

Yes, Eric Dane.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

Uh well, I knew him as Mr. Dreamy. No, Mr. Steamy.

SPEAKER_02 32:33

I knew him from a from a from a series called The Last Ship, which was very good. Which was very good. And he was I remember doing a couple of years.

SPEAKER_03 32:42

He's not very old. No, was he?

SPEAKER_02 32:43

Same age as me.

SPEAKER_03 32:44

Oh, so he's not very old.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

He's not very old at all.

SPEAKER_03 32:47

He left two little girls, didn't he?

SPEAKER_02 32:48

Yeah, he did.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

We've been watching um sorry, side note. Side quest. Side quest. Catherine O'Hara, who's Beetlejuice.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

I was gonna say I know the name.

Trends, Challenges, And Memes

SPEAKER_03 32:58

Shitscreek. Beetlejuice mum. No.

SPEAKER_02 33:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:01

So we're watching, she recently died as well. She died in January, didn't she?

SPEAKER_02 33:05

She was um because uh Macaulay Culkin put a post up about it.

SPEAKER_03 33:09

Yeah, of course, yeah, Home Alone as well. I've I've still not seen that in its entirety. But we were watching Studio, which is the Seth Rogan thing on Apple TV. Oh, okay. Yeah, she's in it. And I said to Mitchell, I was like, how old is this? He was like, Oh, it knew it came out last year. I was like, Oh, well, I hate to tell you, she she died recently.

SPEAKER_02 33:28

Anyway, sorry. Um, but the ice bucket challenge raised over 115 million US dollars.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

Considering how viral that went, I'm actually surprised it didn't make it.

SPEAKER_02 33:38

I shouldn't, yeah, make more. Yeah. Now, one of my favourite songs, which is in C minor, because I have played this a few times. Me and Becca have played this. What does the fox say?

SPEAKER_03 33:52

I think this went viral just because of how absurd it is.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

It is amazing.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

The first time I watched that video, I was gonna move and the sheep go ba ba. It's just genius. It's just absolutely genius. But it's true, we don't actually know what foxes say.

SPEAKER_02 34:09

Yeah, no, we don't.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

If if someone was like impersonate a fox, I think I'd just scream like a baby because that's just what they sound like.

SPEAKER_02 34:16

Have I ever told you my fox story?

SPEAKER_03 34:19

Oh, you have definitely not on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

No, okay, so many What is your fox? So many years ago many moons ago, when I was a young lad. No, not it wasn't that long ago. But uh I was walking down this dark alley.

SPEAKER_03 34:31

Where?

SPEAKER_02 34:32

Right, uh near where I work. Oh, yeah. And I was walking down this dark alley and it was in the middle of the night, right? And as I'm walking down this dark alley, a fox comes out and just stands there and stares at me. I'm walking towards it, not scared of foxes.

SPEAKER_03 34:48

Does it sit there with its tail wrapped around itself or does it like does it stand and stare?

SPEAKER_02 34:52

It appears from from the hedge and stands in this alley, okay, looking at me. Right. So I carry on walking, not scared of foxes. They're fine, we'd get foxes all over the place, not really a problem. As I get closer, it goes like this.

SPEAKER_03 35:07

Yeah, they they sound like a crying baby, don't they?

SPEAKER_02 35:10

And I went, nope.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

I'm okay. I turned around.

SPEAKER_02 35:14

Not tonight, Cujo. I turned around and walked the other way. I think it did because I think it's it probably had cubs.

SPEAKER_03 35:22

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

And it was warning me off because it's had little little Was that your fox story? That was my fox story, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:27

Oh, yeah. That was very anti-crest. Sorry. I was expecting some sort of ninja move or I don't know, someone just shake it up a bit. No.

SPEAKER_00 35:35

I was like, not to do it.

SPEAKER_03 35:36

So basically, a fox walked walked walked into your path, screamed at you, and you walked away.

SPEAKER_02 35:42

Yeah, essentially.

SPEAKER_03 35:43

Cool story, bro.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Yeah, self-preservation.

SPEAKER_03 35:45

Gotta keep it interesting, father.

SPEAKER_02 35:47

And then the next one is oh my god, I couldn't even get all the way through this video. I really couldn't get through it, and that's bloody Rebecca Brown.

SPEAKER_03 35:56

Friday, Friday, gonna be down on Friday. Everybody's looking forward to the weekend. Do you know what? She's actually a very, very successful EDM artist now.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

Really?

SPEAKER_03 36:07

Yep. Really? She does play it in a set as a laugh.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

She never stopped doing music. No, no. She just didn't have a good backing.

SPEAKER_02 36:14

No, that was that song. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:16

She's cool. She's living her best life. Yeah. Is Rebecca Black. Good. But yeah, she got a heck of a lot of backlash. And I do feel sorry for the gal because she was just trying to make music. We're all trying to make music. Mm-hmm. You've written shit songs, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

Oh I've written many shit songs. Yeah, many shit songs.

SPEAKER_03 36:30

As have I.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

Yes. And then the most viewed YouTube video of all time in 2016 was Baby Shuck.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

We've just woken up all of the young parents right now. Yeah. Like sleeper agents are like, God, no. Turn off that podcast.

SPEAKER_02 36:50

Uh, just looking at the time, we'll go run through the other ones we've got. Yeah. So in 2007.

SPEAKER_03 36:56

Special mention too.

SPEAKER_02 36:57

Special mention. So 2007, Chris Crocker did the Leave Brittany Alone video. Do you remember that one?

SPEAKER_03 37:02

Yeah, I do. And I stand by that.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

Indeed.

SPEAKER_03 37:05

Please leave Brittany alone. She needs to recover.

SPEAKER_02 37:08

In 2007, there was the dramatic chipmunk. I don't remember that one. I can't recall that one. I don't remember that one. Oh, this next one. The double rainbow. Double rainbow. He was so stoned.

SPEAKER_00 37:22

He was so stoned.

SPEAKER_03 37:24

He was so high.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

That is genius. So high. Can you remember the dress debate in 2015?

SPEAKER_03 37:31

I'm annoyed you scut part you skipped past Neon Cat because. Oh, yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

Don't want to take Neon Cat.

SPEAKER_03 37:42

It was basically a cat on the screen. That was it. That was it. It was like a rainbow cat with a little rainbow poo-tail. It was great. I think I'm thinking of the right thing.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

Oh, brilliant. Um, then yeah, they had the dress debate uh in 2015. Yeah, was it black or oh I love the next one. Candice Payne with the Chewbucker Mum.

SPEAKER_03 38:02

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:02

When she's in the car with the mask on.

SPEAKER_03 38:05

With the mask on. And every time she opens her mouth, it does like the wookie noise.

SPEAKER_02 38:11

But then she laughs, which makes it dirt even more. So then she laughs even more.

SPEAKER_03 38:15

That one, it I think again, it's someone laughing at their own almost their own stupidity. I don't think she's being stupid, but like her own pure joy. Just pure joy. It is pure joy.

SPEAKER_02 38:27

It's brilliant. And then of course you've got the pen pineapple apple pen.

SPEAKER_03 38:31

I have a pen.

SPEAKER_02 38:33

I have a pen.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

Pineapple pen. Pineapple pen. Pineapple pen. That was 2016. Pen pineapple apple pen.

SPEAKER_02 38:48

Yeah, that was 2016. Bloody hell. Uh then also in 2016 there was the Bad Barbie cashmia girl. Yeah. What show was she on? Can't remember the talk show she was on.

SPEAKER_03 39:02

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 39:03

Can't remember.

SPEAKER_03 39:04

I'm surprised you haven't had a hot thought and spin on that thing.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

Oh god, yeah, I forgot about her. Then OK Boomer Girl.

SPEAKER_03 39:11

Okay Boomer.

SPEAKER_02 39:12

Okay Boomer. I mean, that's still said now.

SPEAKER_03 39:14

Yeah, I say that to you quite a lot.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

Dream Mask? Do you remember that one?

SPEAKER_03 39:18

No.

Parodies, Auto-Tune, And ASMR

SPEAKER_02 39:19

That was 2021. So that's a fairly new one.

SPEAKER_03 39:21

Yeah, maybe a bit after my time.

SPEAKER_02 39:24

Yeah. Oh, the next one is one of my favourite videos. Chocolate rain. Chocolate rain.

SPEAKER_03 39:31

He's got such a deep voice. Oh yeah. Chocolate rain.

SPEAKER_02 39:34

He actually did a lot of React videos later on.

SPEAKER_03 39:36

Did he? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:37

So he's he's quite a YouTube celebrity. I can't remember his name. I can't remember his name.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

No, I can't.

SPEAKER_02 39:43

But then there was the Schmoyo video.

SPEAKER_03 39:47

Remember the Hadge, Hadgewife, Hadge, Hadgewife, and Hadgewind. You wouldn't have to cut and confess. We're looking for you and girls. Oh my god, I used to uh that and um The Charlie Sheen one. Yeah. Um I was banging 10 gram rocks. That's how I roll winning. By one goo, go epic winning. Are you a bipolar? No, I'm bipolar. Winning. Chicken nuggets winning. Adonna's blood winning. Tinky Winky's purse are winning. How do I know the lyrics still? It's still in my head. I used to watch Shmoyo all the time.

SPEAKER_01 40:26

Shmoyo was brilliant. It's like when he's got the um and he's got this brain and he goes, dude can't handle it.

SPEAKER_03 40:31

Yeah, dude can't handle it. Run in here, run in here, run, run everywhere. Uh that's just made me think of as well.

SPEAKER_01 40:38

Oh, then there's the lip reading ones. Have you seen those ones? The lip reading one of Star Wars one, bushes of love, and all the.

SPEAKER_03 40:43

I like the guy who also done the lyrics literally. Um so he done torn and I'm all faith.

SPEAKER_00 40:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:51

This is how I feel. And he's like, like, I'm torn. And he like rips a bit of paper. Um, another one as well were the parodies. So, like um, like the Call Me Maybe parody and the One Direction one as well. Like, there's loads of parodies out there.

SPEAKER_02 41:07

So that that torn video, that is actually um uh that is a performance style on stage. Uh so if you heard you have heard of a playwright called Stephen Burkoff. No, no, uh, he was also an actor, but he was an amazing playwright and he wrote a play called East, I think it was, and it was set in London, and I did that as my monologue at drama school. And so every time you say something, you perform an action to say it.

SPEAKER_03 41:33

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 41:33

So I'm I'll kind of do it, I'll do the beginning of the monologue now, and I'll apologize for the reason. You remember it? I can remember the first part of it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:42

Uh and actually I can remember one of my monologues too.

SPEAKER_02 41:44

So it'll be it'll be shown on the video, but obviously the audio, audio, audio people won't be able to hear it. But the first line is like so I was spawned in a Tufnell Park. That's no more than a stone's throw from the Angel, Monkey Sfart from Tottenham, or Bolt Flem from Stanford Hill.

SPEAKER_03 41:58

Oh, you just spat on our side. I didn't mean to. You actually upturned and spat on that thing.

unknown 42:04

Didn't mean to.

SPEAKER_03 42:06

Oh, there's is there tissue? Yeah. No, it's gone. There you go. It's not, I can still Okay, you got it.

SPEAKER_02 42:11

Yeah, you got it, you got it. So that was it. So it's like so So every time I said a line, I did an action to re to the so that's where that kind of this now has blood and and spit on it.

SPEAKER_03 42:21

Why's it got blood on it? Well, I tracked my finger in the mechanism.

SPEAKER_00 42:26

It's riddled with our DNA.

SPEAKER_03 42:29

Yeah, yeah. If we were to commit a crime and leave that at the scene, we would be goners. And the fact that it has cartooned versions of us on it. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 42:38

Oh, brilliant. And then, of course, salad fingers.

SPEAKER_03 42:42

Ah, would you like to caress my rusty spoon? Yeah, um uh nightmare fuel. Do you think he's okay? No, creepy pastor is not okay. Um, salad fingers is not made by creepy pastor.

SPEAKER_02 42:55

Jeremy Fisher.

SPEAKER_03 42:56

Jeremy Fisher. These are my friends. And he cooks them in the oven.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

Yeah, oh my word. Oh my word.

SPEAKER_03 43:03

Maybe we should do a React video to us watching uh viral videos. No, salad fingers specifically, but yes, viral videos.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

And one of my favourite ones.

SPEAKER_00 43:12

Leroy Jenkins! That is absolutely genius.

SPEAKER_02 43:17

That is so funny. Well, they're all outside. For those of you who don't know, basically it's a game, uh game screen. You've got all these characters who are outside and they're all on their, you know, sitting at their respective PS5 or whatever they are, all online, and they're all talking about how they're gonna go in and attack.

SPEAKER_00 43:35

And they're doing it all very clinically, and like saying, Well, if you go to this person and LeRoy just goes judging and just screaming his name. Leroy Jenkins! And in he goes, and all you can hear is all the other players go, God damn it, Leroy. Oh my god, he's gone in. God damn it, Leroy. Oh my god, this has gone to shit.

SPEAKER_03 44:00

One one that's not on the list as well is that that that melon chucking contest where she pulls the melon back and they have got a hit these nights, but she pulls it back and the catapult like it twists and it hits her right in the face, and the commentator's like, oh right in the kisser. And then like you have to continue. She's like, I can't feel my face. That's actually kind of not funny, but it is funny.

Internet Oddities And Cult Classics

SPEAKER_02 44:26

It really is funny. But then, of course, one the last one that I had was on the same vein, and it's Grape Lady.

SPEAKER_03 44:32

Great lady forever in history. Do you know how I heard about Grape Lady? Oh. This is better than your Fox story, so buckle up. Right. You know, when I was in uh in that drama club at school, not not not the drama company prior to high school, but one afterwards. It was a drama club. And um I got picked out of someone that was doing a video at the UEA. They wanted to cast me in their film. Do you remember?

SPEAKER_02 44:58

I remember that, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:59

And I was chatting to so I I was acting as their daughter.

SPEAKER_02 45:03

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

In in the film.

SPEAKER_02 45:04

That was a good little film.

SPEAKER_03 45:05

It was a cool film.

SPEAKER_02 45:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:06

And I so I was their daughter, but I got quite friendly with the mum and dad. Yeah. My my my film, uh, my actor, mum and dad, I guess. Yeah. Um, and then we were chatting, and they were like, Oh, have you seen the video Grape Lady? And I was like, No, what are you on about? I remember being in the middle of Wells Forest or Holcomb Forest, and we were watching Grape Lady. I was crying with tears, like streaming down my face for watching Grape Lady for the first time, and that is how I found out about Grape Lady. Word of mouth.

SPEAKER_01 45:33

Yeah, brilliant.

SPEAKER_03 45:33

Oh, they're like, Have you seen Grape Lady? Uh basically, Grape Lady is a news anchor who's doing a story at a vineyard, and what they've done is they've set up two buckets, and she's stamping some grapes in one, and there's another lady who's obviously part of the vineyard, stumping her own grapes, and they have this just cute little competition to see who can stomp the most grapes in in the time that they're doing the thing. And they're both like squishing them down with their feet, and and then and then the the the news anchor goes stop stop stop and then tries to get a few extra stumps in, to which she just absolutely hosses it over this bucket of grapes and then falls on the floor, but the camera's still on the other lady, so all you can hear is oh, oh, oh, oh, and then it pans back to the studio and they go, Oh my god, I think she's really hurt herself. And it's just like oh, I just I I think it's their reaction that they're trying not to laugh or something, but uh good.

SPEAKER_01 46:28

It's just her noises that she's made for.

SPEAKER_03 46:29

Oh, oh, oh, oh, like, oh god, oh bless her.

SPEAKER_02 46:36

Oh yeah.

unknown 46:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

What a lady. What a legend. There was one I missed. You said you said there was one that you wanted to add. Uh you said the other day, which started this whole viral video.

SPEAKER_03 46:48

Yeah, oh yeah, sorry, I forgot about that one. Oh my god, so I'm obsessed with this video where this guy has clearly taken uh oh no, he actually explains that he's taken some acid uh later in the call. But he calls up 911 in America and he goes, she answers the phone, she's like 911, what's your emergency? And he's like, I have knife hands. And and then it just the conversation transpires, and she's like, Okay, okay, sir, let's let's work this out. And he's go, um, how did you dial the phone? He's like, um, with with my with my hands, and and he goes, Yeah, but how did you dial the buttons? And you said, with my finger, oh, they're back. Thank you. You must be an angel. Is your name Sharon? And she goes, No. And he goes, and then he goes, Oh, that's exactly what an angel would say. And he's going, Oh my god, um, what and then uh when he feels he still has knife hands, I forgot them, I've got the most funniest part, is when he goes, um, he goes, What am I gonna do all day? Be a chef? Nah, chop that. He's just the funniest guy. And then the call literally ends with him, this acid is really messing with me. That's just so funny. Watch knife hands, it's the funniest thing. It's so funny. This guy just offers absolute rocker on acid.

SPEAKER_02 47:57

Brilliant. Right. So, there we go. That that's kind of the list of viral videos that I had. Make us viral. Yeah, make us viral. Make us viral.

SPEAKER_03 48:06

So, uh closing If I go viral for saying I love Elon Musk, I'm absolutely gonna be able to get it.

SPEAKER_02 48:11

I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna I'm gonna snip hit that. No, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. Don't take it out of context. So one question.

SPEAKER_03 48:18

Yes.

Correction: Please ignore this line

SPEAKER_02 48:19

Are viral videos? Okay, do they shape culture or do they reflect it as a final thought?

Fails, Laughter, And Shared Joy

SPEAKER_03 48:26

Both shape and reflect. Yep. Yep. They reflect on past trends and they shape new trends coming in.

SPEAKER_02 48:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 48:32

Boom.

SPEAKER_02 48:33

There you go.

SPEAKER_03 48:34

Easy. There you go. Easy, easiest question you've ever asked me on this podcast.

SPEAKER_02 48:37

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 48:37

Doom. Well, if you enjoyed this uh episode podcast there, let's try it again.

SPEAKER_01 48:42

Oh my lord.

SPEAKER_03 48:43

If you enjoyed this uh episode of Bonus Dad, a bonus daughter, we have plenty more on Zibank. All we gotta do is say cue the outro. Thanks for joining us on bonus dad, bonus daughter. Don't forget to follow us on all our socials and share the podcast with someone who'd love it. We are available on all streaming platforms. See you next time. Bye-bye, I think.